English Language Resources in Seoul for Americans

A good bulk of our readers are from the United States. This is from the newsletter by the American Embassy.

Medical: The Seoul Help Center for Foreigners has a 24-hour medical referral service (after hours is for emergencies only) where medically trained, English-speaking professionals can refer individuals to medical services. All calls are confidential. Call 010-4769-8212 or 010-8750-8212, or email medicalreferral@seoul.go.kr. If you need an ambulance, call 119 – preferably from a land line, so that if you cannot make yourself understood, your location can still be identified.

Language assistance: The Before Babel Brigade (BBB) is a volunteer organization for non-Korean speakers who need help communicating. Call 1588-5644 and press “1” for an English-speaking volunteer. Note that BBB assistance is only provided over the phone. There website is: www.bbbkorea.org.

Transportation: A guide to the bus system in Seoul is available at http://bus.seoul.go.kr. Click on “English” in the top right-hand corner to take you to the searchable map in English. (You need to be using Internet Explorer)

General: The Seoul Help Center for Foreigners (http://shc.seoul.go.kr), located on the 2nd floor of Seoul’s City Hall, provides information on various aspects of life in Seoul, including housing, visas, traffic, and schools. There is an information desk at the Center as well as an English help line (02-797-8212; 09:30–12:30; 14:00–19:00 M-F) staffed by English-speaking volunteers.